by FilmInk Staff
According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international film journalist, Jafar Panahi, the renowned Iranian director who won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and other prestigious international awards, was sentenced to one year of imprisonment and a two-year ban on leaving the country for the crime of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Branch 26 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran, headed by Judge Iman Afshari, rejected the appeal and confirmed the absentia sentence issued against Jafar Panahi.
Jafar Panahi’s lawyer Mostafa Nili announced the news, saying: “According to the initial verdict, Jafar Panahi was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was also banned from leaving the country for two years and banned from membership in political and social groups and organisations.”
The evidence for this verdict, as stated in the indictment, includes the following: making an underground and problematic film against the government, supporting some security convicts including Fatemeh Sepehri, Raheleh Rahemipour, Hossein Ronaghi, Mohammad Nourizad, Mehdi Mahmoudian, Abolfazl Ghadiani, and… Supporting the protests, supporting the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom”, signing and publishing a statement about the truckers’ strike, blackening the situation in the country, and republishing a clip featuring the singing of the anthem “O Iran” in protest against the issuance and execution of death sentences.
This sentence can be appealed to the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeal within twenty days of its notification.
It is necessary to emphasise an important point; the text of the indictment and the verdict itself show that Jafar Panahi is not affiliated with any particular political movement, party, or spectrum. The list of charges includes supporting individuals and views with different tendencies and backgrounds, and this is precisely what shows that his position was not limited to a specific group or faction.
This is also consistent with his remarks after receiving the Palme d’Or at Cannes, where he emphasised solidarity and support for all Iranians, regardless of political or intellectual affiliations. Therefore, if an analysis is to be made about this verdict or indictment, it should not be reduced to supporting a specific movement. On the contrary, what emerges from the text of the case and his public positions is support for diverse groups and defense of the right to express and represent all points of view.
